The Essential Cosmic Perspective, Fourth Edition has been thoroughly revised to include more quantitative coverage, an enhanced illustration and photo program, and an unparalleled new media package. Built from the ground up on our new understanding of the universe, the Fourth Edition retains all of the features that have made this text so popular, while adding new features and supplements that enhance the book's pedagogy to make it the strongest text in the one-semester astronomy market.

The Fourth Edition features optional quantitative reasoning boxes, basic equations throughout the text, new end-of-chapter problems, and a consolidated math appendix for professors who want to emphasize quantitative understanding in their course. Key figures have been annotated to guide student interpretation of difficult concepts. New two-page illustrations throughout the text, and at the end of every part, visually tie together key concepts from across chapters to drive home main ideas in a meaningful way.

The Essential Cosmic Perspective,Fourth Edition's unprecedented media package now includes MasteringAstronomy (TM), the most advanced astronomy tutorial, assessment, and self-study system ever built. MasteringAstronomy's sophisticated analysis of student performance data (including difficulty, time spent, and most common errors) has allowed every item to be systematically refined for quality, educational effectiveness, efficiency of teaching and learning, and assessment accuracy. The Essential Cosmic Lecture Launcher CD-ROM allows professors to integrate animations and interactive tools into classroom lectures, while the Voyager SkyGazer CD-ROM, also included with the text, provides students with the most popular planetarium software to help them learn more about their place in the universe.